Amachree Salutes Odili at 74, Says Ex-governor Developed Tourism in Rivers State

Father of Nigerian Tourism, Chief Mike Amachree, has felicitated with former governor of River State, Chief Peter Odili on his 74th birthday, saying he laid solid foundation for the development of tourism in River State. 

Amachree said the history of tourism in the state would never be complete without mentioning the major contribution of Odili to the growth of the industry. 

“We cannot begin to talk about tourism in Rivers State without mentioning the huge contribution of Chief Peter Odili in the development of tourism in the state. During his tenure as governor of the state between 1999 and 2007, Odili played a great role for the tourism industry to have a foothold in the state. Knowing that Rivers State has comparative advantage in the area of aquatic tourism, he organised a state boat regatta festival to showcase the rich aquatic culture of the state. It was the first major event that drew attention to the tourism potential of the state. By organising the boat regatta, the tourism profile of Rivers State was enhanced and also made a lot of people become interested in the tourism potentials. This had a positive impact on our business as tourism practitioners in the state.

“In addition to this, he also enhanced the tourism profile of his community Ndoni, by building a major monument there to attract tourists. It was in the light of this that tourism practitioners in Rivers State visited Ndoni community to commend him for this effort and he was appreciated by his community.

The tourism technocrat also said that in addition to this, the former governor was very approachable on issues that has to do with tourism during his administration.

“I remember, during our launching of our book on tourism titled, ‘Towards the culture of peace in the Niger Delta’, we reached out to him through the then Nigerian Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Boma Bromillow Jack. We took a letter to him for him to grace the occasion. Unfortunately, he was unable to come due to other pressing commitments. He however, sent his wife to represent him at the occasion as special guest of honour. We felt honoured and proud as tourism practitioners. 

“I believe Chief Odili deserves all the accolades he is getting on his birthday and such leaders ought to be celebrated due to the legacy they left behind. 

“Tourism practitioners will always honour those who have made significant contributions to developments in the tourism industry.”